Litigation against state claims racial discrimination

On Behalf of | Nov 6, 2017 | business torts

In a perfect world, the treatment a person receives in the workplace would be based on his or her abilities and effort. Despite the efforts made in race relations over the last several decades, minorities still face workplace discrimination in California and across the country. In fact, a man has recently turned to litigation after he claims he faced discrimination in his job in another state.

The incident involves a black security aid at a state mental hospital. The man’s job requires him to provide security for workers at the hospital. However, he claims that he and other black workers are assigned tasks that could potentially result in physical harm more frequently than their white co-workers.

Additionally, the lawsuit against the state of Missouri and two of the plaintiff’s co-workers claims that he also had to endure racist comments. Although he claims that he reported the comments to his supervisors, and no corrective was taken. The lawsuit also asserts that the state should have taken measures to train employees to assign work without regard to the worker’s race.

The plaintiff is seeking $25,000 in damages. Unfortunately, the state of Missouri is becoming increasingly familiar with these types of cases as it is the latest in a series of cases alleging workplace discrimination. The state has reportedly paid approximately $52 million to settle such cases over the course of the last five years.

Workers in California also face similar instances of workplace discrimination. Despite their efforts at fulfilling their work responsibilities, they are often treated unlawfully due to issues of race, religion or gender. Often, these workers feel they have no other option but to pursue litigation to stand up for their rights and to help prevent others from being treated similarly.

Source: stltoday.com, “State facing another workplace discrimination lawsuit,” Kurt Erickson, Oct. 5, 2017